Créatif Winter 2021 Issue 20
Créatif
My life changed a lot when I got better at English. I finally could understand what was going on around me; also, I got a job at Snoway when I was a freshman, and I still work there. During my first year of work, I would not talk to anybody and would eat lunch by myself everyday. I would just heat up my food and go upstairs because I couldn’t converse with my coworkers. Why would I hang out with them if I couldn’t even talk to them? But now, we play around at work and tell jokes to each other, and some of my coworkers even ask me to do art commissions. When my parents and I visited our family in Florida, I could talk But I learned and play games with my cousins who speak English because I was to trust getting fluent too. Years ago, when I wanted to talk to my cousins, I had myself. to ask my aunts to translate. “Aunt Jean, could you ask Just trust them in English if they want to go swimming in the pool?” I said in Tagalog. But not anymore. yourself. The past few years I got better, better and better until I was fluent in English. Learning English changed my life from being a shy and quiet person that moved here 2 years ago and didn't know anything about English to being a confident person--able to communicate with other people, make friends, confidently ask people and most importantly being able to speak English. I know I can speak English now, and I’m only 16 years old, so I still have a long way to go. I am going to learn more new things and words that I don’t know. So I always remember that people will learn things quickly, as long as they put work, time, effort and interest into it. People like me should not give up and should adjust to the world around us. I came to a country that was so much different from my old country. I learned the language and made some new friends and went to a new school. Yes. Learning things that I knew nothing about was really hard. But I learned to trust myself. Just trust yourself.
Créatif is the HUHS literary arts magazine that is published each winter and spring. We invite submissions in the categories of prose, poetry, art and photography.
Créatif Staff Lindsay Arvidson, Sydney Gifford, Kira Kirsch Madelyn Oechsner and Sam Sotola Faculty Advisor: Michelle Yu Any questions or submissions can be directed to creatif@huhs.org 2
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Self-Portrait
Table of Contents
by Jiro Abuan
18
Front cover
Jessica Schoettel
The Face of Conspiracies
B'Elanna Hawley
Him
4
Taylor Nolte
The Stairs
5
Jayden Gilmore
Untitled
5
Logan Creegan
Grey Ghost
5
Audrey Cronin
Perspective
6
Elena Espinosa
Hasta la Raiz
6
Bella Kettner
Pochaco
7
Bella Kettner Samantha ChalabiBails Samantha ChalabiBails
All-Seeing God
7
Portrait of Isabela Madrigal
7
Woman in a Blue Dress
7
Natalie Glorioso
Behind the Scenes
8
Samantha ChalabiBails
Portrait of Lorena Villegas
10
Elka Desmond
Snake
11
Greta Curro
Steve
11 3
Anola Peters
The Back Road
12
Ella Robertson
Psalm 19:1
13
Kira Kirsch
Anna Maria Island
14
Hailey Schumacher Identity
14
Roxann Ibarra
Tranquility Under The Sun
15
Lily Tiefenthaler
Tranquility
15
Jiro Abuan
Learning English
16
Jiro Abuan
Self-Portrait
18
Logan Creegan
Back Cover
Back to the Future
Him by B’Elanna Hawley
4
During my freshman year, being quiet was all I did, like literally not saying anything to everything that’s happening around me, because I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to speak the language, and I feared asking the teacher to even go to the bathroom. I feared that the teacher would not understand me. I feared that all my classmates were going to look at me when I repeated it to the teacher. School presented difficulties because I couldn’t understand the language. My parents paid for a tutor to help me learn I felt like the language and also to help me understand my homework. My tutor explained everything I was not in every word and explained the definition of a word that I didn’t know in every sentence. Thanks to her, I know some English and unalone derstand a little of it now. I also built a lot of anymore. confidence in myself. I didn’t make friends until I joined the wrestling team. Wrestling practice was the first time that I actually talked to some friends. “Jiro, are you going to practice on Saturday?” “Yeah, I’m going.” “Do you wanna go eat and hang out at Culver’s?” “Let me just ask my mom if I can go because it’s late at night.” “You should sit with us at lunch time with the team.” “Oh sure, why not? Where do you guys sit?” When that happened, I felt like I was not alone anymore, and I actually made friends. One of my goals when I first came to America was to make friends. I was new here back then, so I learned the language. And, yes, I’m a junior in high school now and finally talking to some friends, talking to people, reciting in class, starting a conversation and asking teachers for help if I don’t know how to do it. 17
Learning English
by Jiro Abuan
Learning things that one doesn't want to learn takes a long time, a really long time. But when learning something of interest or necessity, one can master it in no time. One will find a way to get better at that thing, like me learning English. I didn't know how to speak English before. “Yes” and “No” were the only English words in my vocabulary. I didn’t even know that “yeah” meant “yes,” or that “nah” meant “no.” I learned that from my uncle who was like my dad to me. I really wanted to learn to speak English so badly. That's why I always spoke to my family members in English, and I always felt angry when they talked to me in my native language, Tagalog. I would just pretend like I didn’t understand it or that I didn’t know what it meant. “Tulungan mo si papa mo magtrabaho sa garahe,” mom said in Tagalog. “Huh? What does that mean?” Can you say it in English, please?” I said. “Oh, sorry, help your dad work in the garage.” Every time my mom talks to me in Tagalog, I always just pretend that I don’t know what it means because if I did talk to her in my native language, I would not know what that word means in English. I would not get better at speaking. The other day before we ate, my mom wanted me to set the plates on the table and she said, “Ayusin mona yung mga plato sa lamisahan.” “Why are you talking in Tagalog? Remember, I won’t get better if you keep on talking to me like that!” I said angrily. “Don’t get mad. You act like you don’t even know the language of where you’re from,” my sister said. She angrily said that I act like I'm not a Filipino and like I grew up here in America even though I just came here 2 years ago. My mom and my sister are always talking in Tagalog.
The Stairs
Untitled
by Taylor Nolte
by Jaden Gilmore
Grey Ghost by Logan Creegan 16
5
Tranquility Under the Sun by Roxann Ibarra
Perspective by Audrey Cronin
Hasta la Raiz by Elena Espinosa
Tranquility 6
by Lily Tiefenthaler 15
Anna Maria Island by Kira Kirsch
Pochaco & All-Seeing God
Identity
by Bella Kettner
Portrait of Isabela Madrigal & Woman in a Blue Dress
by Hailey Schumacher
by Samantha Chalabi-Bails 14
7
Behind the Scenes
by Natalie Glorioso
A small breakdown emerged from my quiet room. A small breakdown caused by feeling overwhelmed with everything that I have sacrificed for the football team. Do they even care? Should I continue managing? In the midst of the cries, a notification rang with the message, “Natalie, I feel terrible for you. You’re here through every practice, bad weather or not. I don’t think you know, but without you, our football team would be a mess. You work so hard for us, and we work hard for you. We all appreciate you so much even if we are hard on you. That’s just the way we love.” My tears fell into my smile as I realized that everything I have sacrificed has led to a greater love for the family I made. I have been a football manager for three years, but this was my first year without my best friend, Abby, managing with me. The last two years Abby worked to prepare me for when she graduated and went into the Army. I thought I would be prepared, but as the football season got closer and closer, I realized I did not get help this year. No one volunteered for being a manager, and I would be taking care of 3 teams all by myself. The season had not even started, and I feel overwhelmed. I could not even imagine what it would be like when we actually started. When the season began it was not that bad. We held practice everyday, either in the morning or afternoon. Most days I maintained control, keeping the boys hydrated and getting any equipment they needed. When problems arose, I worked out solutions. As the first game of the season got closer and closer, my stress levels rose. How would I keep everything under control on game days? Our JV and Freshman teams held games at the same time in two different places. While those teams played games, the Varsity team practiced. I felt as if I needed to be in three different places at once. How was I supposed to make sure everyone was taken care of? “Is it really worth it?” asked my dad. “This is something I’m passionate about. I can’t just leave them in the dust,” I responded. “You need to take care of yourself before you take care of other people,” my dad explained sympathetically.
Psalm 19:1 by Ella Robertson
How would I keep everything under control on game days?
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13
Finally, a few weeks into the season, two managers started showing up. Even with them there, I felt like I did all of the work. I showed up hours earlier than they would to make sure everything would go smoothly. Even with help I got overwhelmed. Then, the worst happened. My sister got Covid-19. I got quarantined for 5 days until I got a negative test. Everyday, I would get texts from the team telling me how bad practice went, begging and pleading for me to come back. I felt as if I abandoned them, even if I would be back in the next few days. Shortly after I came back, everything went downhill, like a snowball tumbling down a mountain. I fell behind in school and felt as if I put all of my time into football. Soon, I would break, and I felt like the only way to be happy was to quit. The sport I continued to love for three years made me question everything. Am I happy doing this? Am I really needed? If I leave, will I lose all of my friends? I started to cry thinking about my limitless options, that at the time, seemed like only one-- to give up. How could the one thing I sacrificed everything for betray me like this? Slow, gray days went by, and a few of the players noticed I was not my normal self-- a happy encouraging girl who always smiled when they surrounded her. I expressed how I felt unappreciated and burnt out. Every single one of the boys from the older seniors to the younger, smaller freshman wrote paragraph on paragraph on reasons why I should never have even developed these feelings. They continued to reassure me that they notice my sacrifices and feel so grateful for everything I provide for the team. Not to toot my own horn, but I feel like I am the reason the team has not fallen into a million pieces. I am so thankful for the family I have created, and I would repeat everything again and again to ensure their happiness. Today, our team heads into round 4 of the playoffs, one game away from state. We broke school records this season, and they still hold so much fight behind them. I am so happy where I am with all of them. They learned to be more kind and grew so much this season. Mike McGivern, the host of 105.7, named us as the team of the week because of the respect we show others. I am not taking full responsibility for those traits, but I will take responsibility for constantly encouraging them to be good people. As I look at the team, and everything I sacrificed, I get a little emotional. Everything I did the past three years, and will continue to next year, finally seems worth it. As we fight for the state title, I am so proud to be behind the scenes of everything they earned.
The Back Road by Anola Peters
12
9
Snake by Elka Desmond
Steve by Greta Curro
Portrait of Lorena Villegas by Samantha Chalabi Bails 10
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